


Coming Home

by LadyWinchester42



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Drug Use, Established Relationship, Explicit Language, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Hurt/Comfort, Naked Cuddling, Not Beta Read, Okay that's a lot of tags I'll stop, One Shot, Oral Sex, Panic Attacks, Pillow Talk, Reunions, Smut, The SS is tough as fuck but everyone has their limits, Vaginal Sex, again obviously I mean it's John, it gets smutty up in here, lol obviously
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:53:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22330645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyWinchester42/pseuds/LadyWinchester42
Summary: Nora finally returns home from her first trip inside the Institute with more knowledge than she hoped to possess. Being able to return to John made it easier in some aspects, but how was she supposed to tell him about everything she learned while down there?
Relationships: John Hancock & Female Sole Survivor, John Hancock (Fallout)/Original Character(s), John Hancock (Fallout)/Original Female Character(s), John Hancock/Female Sole Survivor, John Hancock/Nora (Fallout)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 66





	Coming Home

**Author's Note:**

> This is really how I imagined my SS reacting to coming home from the Institute. Especially telling John about his brother, cause it's totally bull that there isn't a personal story line for that in canon. Leave me a comment if you'd like:) Besides that, I hope you are having a dandy day:)

Nora felt the electricity thrum through her body and the deafening thwarp fill her ears. The brightness of the flash of light forced her eyes closed as she felt like she was free falling before  suddenly feeling the ground beneath her feet , going to one knee to catch herself. With one hand, she braced herself on the ground while she regained her breath. Breathing in, she focused on the taste of the fresh, open air, letting it replace the filtered Institute air that had filled her lungs. Breathing out , she pressed her hand into the earth below her, finding comfort in the feeling of the loose dirt in between her fingers .  Slowly, she opened her eyes to look at the ground, blinking quickly to adjust her eyes to the brightness of the Wasteland before her. 

The teleportation had taken her to  the round-a-bout near the contraption they had built to get her into the Institute in the first place. She let out a deep breath as she recognized her surroundings, relieved that the teleportation took her to the right spot. 

As she tried to calm her thoughts, she heard footsteps running up to her. Quickly pushing herself to her feet, she drew her weapon, half raising before she saw the familiar flash of red and allowing herself to relax slightly. Hancock, Preston, and Sturges slowed down  as they reached her . 

_ Keep it together, keep it together, just wait a few more minutes, Nora. Come on. _

Hancock didn’t stop until he was standing directly in front of her, eyes aggressively moving over her entire form searching for any injuries. 

“ Sunshine, ” h e whispered, bringing a hand to cup her cheek, eyes meeting with her s . “Are you okay?”

The softness of his touch and his voice was too much,  way  too much to handle right now. She was going to lose it if she let herself feel the comfort  that  he was effortlessly providing her. 

_ His brother , he doesn't know. _

Nora felt bile rise up in her throat and she just focused on keeping it together.

Shakily she reached a hand up and wrapped it around  his wrist,  momentarily leaning  into his palm before  giving it a light squeeze  and removing it from her cheek. Reaching his eyes with her own watery ones, she slightly shook her head, hoping to convey that she needed to maintain the strong front right now. His eyes se arched  her face, before giving her a barely noticeable nod of understanding and taking a step back from her. 

Swallowing heavily, she looked past him  to Preston and Sturges. They looked around her, like they were looking for someone else.  Shaun. A fresh wave of grief crashed over her and she clenched her jaw so hard she  could hear her teeth grinding. 

She met their eyes, glancing at Hancock’s overwhelmingly understanding eyes briefly before returning to theirs, shaking her head no. Feeling  the  walls she had built around her emotions over the past few days being chipped away the longer she stood there , she took her pack  off one shoulder and removed the holotape that Sturges had given her. 

Clearing her throat, she informed as smoothly as she could,

“Here’s the holotape. I don’t know if anything useful is on it, but they were monitoring me the entire time. So , this is all I could do for now.”

Sturges gently took it from her hand, giving her a small nod. They were all quiet for a moment before she felt Hancock step closer to her again, gently placing his hand on her back. As gentle as he was, she flinched at the contact, which made her feel even worse. Letting out a shaky sigh looked at the ground. 

“If i t’s alright with you gents, I need a nap.” She spoke, the playful words no t matching her dejected tone.

“General,” Preston started, taking a step toward her, but maintaining enough room to give her space. “This is more than we ever could have asked for, take as much time as you need.” 

_ Shit.  Shitshitshitshit _ _. Do not cry in front of them._

She offered a small nod, before she felt an almost imperceptible pressure at her back guiding her to their house. 

Before they could get too far, Nora remembered,

“The birds.” She spoke softly, before repeating herself louder this time so that they could hear her. 

“The birds… they’re spies. I saw the cameras . They have synth  animals; they have eyes everywhere. Trashcan Carla, she’s working for them. She provides them with reports. Find her. They have spies, everywhere. ”

Their eyes widened, before n odding and looking around them for the birds and the traitor.

Hancock said no thing as they walked, not that Nora would have noticed. There was a ringing in her ears that was building along with the tension in her chest, her breathing gradually becoming more erratic. 

By the time they reached the door, she was barely able to restrain the ragged breaths coming out of her. The hyperventilating started as soon as the door was shut. She couldn’t control  it, her panic was rising and it wouldn't stop. 

Hancock guided her to sit on the couch before  smoothing his hand down her back . Tears began to roll down her cheek s and she leaned forward with her elbows on her knees, her head cradled in her hands. Her tears turned to sobs and  she co uld feel her breath heave through her  entire  body , unable to catch up to what her body was feeling . The grief, the anger, the revulsion…  it  consumed her completely. 

Through her sobs, she vaguely registered that Hancock’s hands were roaming over her, softly removin g the pieces of armor she wore.

Lightly grasping her hands from her face , he enveloped them within his own, placing a tender kiss to each hand before setting them on her lap. He pulled her chest armor over her head before working the straps on her leg armor, sobs still wracking through her body.

Her cries cut through him like a knife. He had no clue what she had gone through, what she had seen. Just that she came home without her baby boy and he couldn’t even begin to imagine what that felt like . And that she said she was being monitored? He tried not to let his mind  wander, he would find out when she told him in her own time. 

Once he had removed all of her armor, he smoothed his hands up  the outside of  her legs, grasping her behind the knees and  spreading them apart. He  moved forward on his knees to  fit in between them , slowly dragging his hands up her legs, arms, over her shoulders, to cup her face. Leaning forward, he rested his forehead against hers. He felt her ragged breath against his face  as she cried,  and he smoothed his thumbs over her cheeks, wiping away the tears that had fallen. 

After a moment, he reached behind her to remove the tie from the end of her hair, delicately unwinding the braid keeping her hair away from her face. Once her hair was loose, he massaged his fingers along her scalp until he got the base of her skull. He kept there, eyes closed and forehead pressed against hers until her breathing began to even out. 

When he felt her hands wrap around his wrists, he slowly opened his eyes to find her loo king back with red rimmed eyes. He realized, after a moment, that she was focusing on mimicking his breathing, trying to regain control. Slightly nodding against her forehead, he took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, feeling and hearing her follow him. They did this for a few moments before she seemed to have  more control over her breathing.

Her voiced was rough and filled with emotion when she finally uttered,

“John.” 

The single word already filling her eyes with tears again. Moving one hand from her neck to her cheek, he caught a stray tear as it fell. He hummed in response, prompting her to continue.

“He was down there, John. Shaun was down there.”

He pulled his forehead bac k slightly to get a better look at her , his eyebrows pulling together in confusion. 

“What?  Then -” he stopped himself, not even knowing which  one  of the thousands of questions flying through his mind to ask. 

“When Shaun was taken, I thought it just happened. But,” her voice cut off. Steeling herself, she continued, “Shaun being taken, and Nate being killed… It happened over 60 years ago.”

“Shit,” he mumbled. 

“He was taken by the Institute, by that fucker Kellogg. But John, he…” she trailed off again. He pulled closer to her and gently rubbed the back of her neck with his hand there. 

“He’s their leader, John. He’s the one  who took me out of cryo . He used me as an experiment, to see how well I could adapt, survive . To see if I could find him on my own.”

John felt  like  the wind had been knocked out of him. The Commonwealth’s boogeyman was being run by the love of his life’s son. He blinked through his thoughts ,

“But the boy. I thought Shaun was in Diamond City with Kellogg , a few months ago?”

“It was a synth. He’s a part of the next generation model, as realistic as you and me. Shaun, the real Shaun, built him as some sort of deranged pet project. And the people there, they call the real Shaun, Father. Like some fucked Hitler type shit, saying how honored I should be to have a kid like him."

Nora couldn't help but let out a noise of disgust and she felt her stomach churn again.

"They honestly believe that synths are their slaves. I mean, one of their top scientists knows that they are sentient, straight up said that they knew, and still believes they're nothing more than slaves to their mission. And they don't give two shits about the people trying to survive up here. We're worthless, nothing more than ways to test new tech or other shit. How could this- how could this happen? How could someone that came from me, my own blood, do something like this? I can’t-”

Nora had begun to breath heavier again, building her panic back up. John leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss to her lips, interrupting her. Taking her face in his palms, he forced her to look at him. 

“ Nora, this is not your fault. This thing he became, it's not on you.  He's your blood, but from the sound of it, that’s where the connection ends. Nora, you are good. You are the best thing that this shithole Wasteland has going for it, the one fucking ray of light.”

"John," she repeated, voice cracking off.

There were very few things in his life that he loved more than hearing his name on her lips, but hearing how broken she sounds... it was almost unbearable. 

Her eyes squeezed shut, letting her head fall, temple pressing against his jaw.

"I found a terminal that had a list of spies they have," she started, dread blooming in her core as she spoke into his skin. She had no idea how to tell him, nor how he would react. He gently grasped her chin, tilting her head so that she looked at him. Hancock wasn't stupid, he knew she would only be nervous with him if it was someone they knew. He sighed before asking,

"Who?"

Nora brought her hands up to grip the front of his shirt, securing him in place.

"Mayor McDonough." 

That is not the name he had expected from her lips. Fahr, worst case. Maybe Daisy? Hell even someone here in Sanctuary. But his brother? 

He mumbled a soft  shit , before leaning back on his heels, pulling out of her grasp. 

"John, please," she started, reaching to pull him back. 

He was too far already, pacing through the room, hands patting through his pockets in search of, hell, anything to take the edge off. Finally finding a near empty can of jet, he placed it to his lips before inhaling the remainder of it. He gave himself a moment for the jet to hit before continuing his track of pacing, trying to slow his thoughts. Normally he would chase that mentat high, but being more intellectual isn't really what he wants right now. 

After a moment of silence, he stopped, looking over at her,

"When?" He tossed the empty canister into the bin in the corner before placing his hands on his hips, becoming more agitated that the hit was so little.

"When did the switch happen? Was it before... everything? Was it the synth who kicked us all out?"

Nora was shaking her head before he even finished his sentence,

"I don't know. I'm so sorry, John. They didn't have a," Nora paused, not knowing how to phrase it. "Start date? Just that he had been replaced and continues to provide them with reports. Maybe when I go back, I can find the records, they have to have dates on them, right?"

"Go back?" Hancock's moved back to stand in front of her. "What do you mean, 'go back'? You can't go back there, it's too dangerous."

"John, they trust me. The intel I could get from them, the people we could help-"

"Nora," his voice taking on a dangerous tone as he securely gripped her face with both hands. Nora looked up to him with wide eyes, heart racing at how intensely he looked at her. The ferocity of his gaze quickly melted into something softer, more fearful, and he knelt in front of her again.

"I can't let them take you from me too, I can't. Please, don't go-" 

Nora cut him off with a searing kiss, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, bringing him forward to press against her body. She kept him securely in place as her legs wrapped around him. His arms quickly wrapped around her waist and he pulled her up with him as he stood, moving down the hallway to the bedroom. His steps only faltering as she ground herself into him, making him push her into the wall. Hancock pressed himself into her, drawing a groan from both of them. 

God, he wanted to kiss every inch of her, to prove to himself that she was here, safe in his arms, and  his . But her lips... fuck, he just couldn't tear himself away. He removed his hands from around her waist as he pushed her further against the wall to keep her up. Her legs tightened around him and it made his breath stutter as he tried to steady his hands enough to pull her shirt up. She removed her hands from around him long enough for him to pull the shirt over her head, tossing it to the side. Her hands immediately went to his coat, sliding below the collar and working to slide it off his shoulders. He began pulling his arms out of his sleeves and she moved to work on his shirt, roughly pulling it off as soon as his arms were free from his coat. Shirtless, he wrapped his arms around her midsection again, deftly unhooking her bra and yanking it off.

He sighed into her mouth as their chests pressed against each other, finally feeling skin against skin. The bed was so close, but he couldn't think that far. His hands were already fumbling with her belt, working past it to get to the button on her pants. Following his thought process, she worked his sash untied and unbuttoned his pants. Groaning regretfully, he pulled her legs from around him, setting her feet on the floor. His hands grabbed the top of her pants and began pushing them down, his body following in suit until he was kneeling in front of her. He leaned his forehead against her stomach, pressing urgent kisses and bites everywhere he could reach as his hands worked on getting her legs free from their confines. As he pulled the second pant leg off of hers, he lifted it over his shoulder. Keeping one hand secured on the outside of her hoisted leg, he pressed open mouthed kisses along the inside of her thigh until he got to her core.

She kept one hand on the crook of his neck and laced the other with his hand on her thigh as he gently nuzzled against her. He brought his free hand up and slowly stroked along her core, making a small gasp fall from her lips as her head hit the wall behind her. Hancock growled at feeling how wet she was for him. 

How long had they been together and he still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that she wanted him. She had told him time and time again to drop the self deprecating bullshit, but god... how did someone as beautiful inside and out love someone as fucked up as him. 

He dragged his tongue along her before placing an open mouthed kiss on her clit. 

"I love you, Nora. So much," he breathed against her. Glancing up, he made eye contact with her, her face contorted with need. 

"John, I love you. More than anything," she panted. 

Her shaky breath and the way her hands tightened against him drove him back to her core. Pulling her clit between his lips, he continued to lave at her there while he slowly inserted his forefinger into her. A moan pulled from her lips as he curled his finger in her, pulling her closer and closer to that edge. 

"John, baby," her voice came out tight, oh she was close. He smiled against her before going back to attack her clit, circling it with his tongue before sucking it between his lips. Adding his middle finger and crooking it just the way she likes it caused her to clench around him, letting out a loud breathy moan as she let the waves of her orgasm rush over her. He stayed there, pressing a kiss to her core before trailing kisses along her thigh. 

He lifted her hand that was intertwined with his and pressed a soft kiss on her palm before nuzzling against it. Her hand immediately molded against his cheek and brought her other hand to his chin. Using her g rip, she pulled him up to meet her face and pressed her mouth to his in a messy kiss. Tasting herself mixed with the taste of John was everything she needed, everything she wanted, and she sighed into the kiss.  John snaked his arms around her her waist and slid along her ass down to her thighs, where he gripped and lifted her legs around his waist. 

Finally in the bedroom, he set her down on the bed as gently as he could before he finished removing his pants and climbing into bed next to her. They laid side by side facing each other and he extended his arm underneath her head so that it was propped on his bicep, face tucked in close to his. She reveled in being this close to him and she lifted her leg to wrap around his waist and pull him flush against her. John let his hand caress from her shoulder, down her ticklish stomach, causing an airy giggle leave her mouth and ghost across his face. Fuck he would die for her. He would kill to be able to stay like this forever, bodies entwined with time on their hands to take as much as they desired.

His hands continued to ghost down her side, along her hip and the thigh wrapped around his waist. Nora gentle nuzzled against his cheek and let out a contented sigh , before speaking softly,

"John, I'm sorry. I really am."

"Nora, please," he responded gently, grasping her face to lean his forehead against hers. " However much I want answers, as much as I want to know what happened to my brother, I love you too much to chance anything. I would rather die not knowing what really happened than send you back in there."

Nora let out a shaky breath, finding herself torn between her emotions and logic. She never wanted to leave this bed, never wanted to leave Hancock, she never did. But she was the only person who had access to the Institute, to the near endless amount of knowledge and intel relating to everything going on in the Commonwealth. They could save a lot of lives, and clear a lot of shit up if she could maintain her rapport. Sensing her conflicting thoughts, his hand tensed on her thigh and he shook his head against her forehead.

"Please, Nora..."

"John, you know why I'm conflicted. You know why I feel this way. If I could just silence that part of my head that is screaming at me to solve this, get more information about everything, I would. I would stay here, right here with you and never fucking leave again. I never want to leave you." 

Tears pricked her eyes and she felt one escape and fall to John's arm beneath her head. 

She felt his hand move from her thigh to her face, wiping the tears from her cheeks. 

"I know, sunshine. I know," he murmured, unable to mask the fear and longing in his eyes. After a moment of silence, she disclosed,

"After all of the initial hullabaloo and meet-n-greets, and my own sneaking around, Shaun asked me to do something for the Institute. He wants me to meet up with a courser and reclaim this rogue synth that is apparently the leader of a raider group called in a place called Libertalia."

"A courser? Working with a courser? And Libertalia? That shit's as big as Goodneighor, and full of just as many people 'cept they're all raiders." He felt his heart began to pound against his ribs, 

"Nora, please, take me with you. I know I can't stop you from going, but please, don't go without me. I don't care if you have to say some bullshit, anti-ghoul shit around the courser to maintain cover. I can deal with that."

Nora remained quiet, even thinking about what some people spout about ghouls makes her stomach churn, and having to say that to John's face to maintain a cover, disgusted her even more. She was shaking her head before she even realized what she was doing, 

"I'll think of something else, another cover to be convincing." 

A soft smile pulled at his lips,

"So you'll let me come? We can fight together?"

"Yeah, John, of course. We need to iron out a few details, but yeah we'll figure it out." 

John smiled into a kiss and Nora felt herself reciprocating both. His hand followed its previous path until he reached the crook of her knee, which he hiked up higher on his waist. She slid one of her hands down his chest to grip his length, slowly stroking him as she felt his breath falter against her lips. They pressed as closely as they could and she lined him at her entrance. Pulling their lips apart, they looked into each other's eyes as he slowly pushed into her. 

Her mouth fell open when a small gasp fell from her lips. When he was fully sheathed inside her, she let out a content sigh and pressed her lips back to his for a lazy kiss. She brought her hand back up to cup his face and stroke her thumb along the rough skin of his cheek. 

He slowly pulled out of her before pushing back in, just as slowly. He continued to roll his hips at a lazy pace as he massaged his way up her thigh. His other arm that Nora was laying on wrapped around her shoulders to get a better grip as he pushed into her. 

A soft gasp left her lips as he stroked that one spot inside her that made her toes curl. John leaned down and nipped at her throat as she began to roll her hips to match his thrusts. Nora ran her hand across his cheek to grasp the back of his head and hold him to her, reveling in the feeling of having him so close, so comfortably intimate. The amount of love and trust she had for him, and she knew that he had for her, was continually difficult to comprehend. 

"Do you have any idea how much I love you?" She groaned as he sucked what she knew would be a bruise into her neck. He released a huff of breath before leaning up to press his forehead against hers.

"If it's anywhere near as much as I love you, then..." He smiled into a kiss before adding, "Yes, yes I know."

The slow pace they had set had been gradually building that tight feeling in her core and her breath was coming out shorter. Their tight embrace caused his rough skin to rub against her which only added to her tension. 

"Baby," Nora whispered. "I'm-"

"I know, sunshine, I know," he croaked out, voice tight with his own built up desire. "Just stay with me, baby, okay? Together?"

Nora nodded against his forehead and leaned back to kiss him, hoping to distract herself from the growing tension in her core. A few gentle strokes later and he nodded against her, 

"Okay sunshine, let go baby. Come with me." 

His voice was no more than a broken moan, and it pushed you over the edge. Her hand tightened around his cheek as she clenched around him, making him groan against her cheek as they both fell over that ledge. Warmth spread throughout her body as her orgasm washed over her. His hips stuttered a few more times, continuing to pull that feeling from her body, before stilling inside of her. They allowed their highs to roll over them as they pressed their lips together for a hazy kiss. They separated their lips to press their foreheads together as they regained their breath.

After a few moments of catching their breath, they opened their eyes and leaned into each other. They didn't speak, just breathed each other in and allowed their hands to absentmindedly run over each other. 

"You need a rad-away, sunshine?" He asked, voice barely above a whisper. She hummed in response,

"In a bit, I'm okay for right now." 

"Are you actually okay or do you just not want to get up?" He half-joked.

"Definitely the second one," she chuckled, unable to stop the wide smile that pulled at her lips. His eyes were drawn to her lips, a smile forming on his as well. He slowly pulled himself out of her, his heart clenching when he heard the little whine that left her lips. He shuddered against her, hating that they were already separated. 

Nora let out a chuckle and pressed a kiss to his cheek before leaning away from him to reach for the rad-away they keep in the drawer. Once she popped one in the her mouth, she settled back next to him. His arms wrapped around her, bringing her tightly in against his chest as their legs intertwined again. 

They let themselves fall into a comfortable silence, resuming the absentminded caressing. After a while of comfortable silence, Nora whispered,

"We'll figure it out, John. We'll find out what happened, I promise."

"You don't have to promise me that, Nora. Promise me that you'll be safe." He murmured back.

"I promise I will try to be safe, as safe as I can be," she snuggled closer. He hummed in response, knowing that's all she could promise and hoping that she would be able to keep it. After that, they both succumbed to sleep, knowing there's nowhere else they'd rather be. 


End file.
